Friday, 19 February 2016

So, after some discussion with my buddy, Scott, we decided to check out Vault 14's Tuesday Night X Wing in Doncaster.

It's been running for 5/6 weeks but due to other commitments, neither of us had made it out on a Tuesday night.

First impressions of Vault 14 were pretty good. From their inception as another FLGS in Doncaster, they've been my first stop for all things X-Wing. The shop itself is, firstly, warm and friendly. Well stocked, too. I've never seen so many boxed sets crammed into two cabinets. The only thing missing was Y Wings and Kihraxz fighters (Which after Worlds 2015 is hardly surprising!)

I also realised that I hate Phantoms. Not the little shuttle from Star Wars: Rebels that flies with the Ghost, the Imperial star fighter.

I just can't get to grips with them. They're good, with 4 red dice, 4 green when cloaked, and the system/crew slots are unseen on ships of their size for Imperials.

I can't fly them though. I always end up parking them on asteroids or smacking into ships, not being able to cloak then being pounded like the surface of Callos.

I do, however, love to face them. My first opponent was flying 2 with Dark Curse as backup.

I didn't expect a list with Vader, Backstabber, Mauler and Fel to work but fuck, did it ever!

So, after about two weeks (yes, readers, I'm lazy/busy/both) I'll post up what happened at the Zone Out Store Championship...

Unlike the previous tournament entered, the Winter Kit, turnout was excellent! 18 players turned up, only 2 of which had Imperials, and 3 took Scum. The Imperial players included myself, and Worlds 2014 Top 4 placer Keith Wilson. We had 13 Rebel players come out, with a stunning eight, (yes, 8) K-Wings being played. It was unusual, so I'm told, to not see a Falcon or anything "expected."

My list included Kath Scarlett in the Firespray 31 with Mara Jade, Engine Upgrade, Mangler cannon and Veteran Instincts, and a 1/2 TIE Swarm (2 Academy, 2 Obsidian) to block/round out the list.

So... Onto games...

Game 1 - Vs. Rebels. "Let's see if it can go better than last time."
Rebel player brings out Tarn Mison, Red Ace and Poe Dameron. Fuck. Never flown against the first two, but the latter...
The right combo of astromech's prevented a lot of the damage from sticking to the damned X wings, but all in all, I learned a lot. My TIEs even managed to survive this one! Kath, however, didn't.

Score: 0 Wins. 1 Loss.

Game 2 - Vs. Rebels "Okay. So it's no better than last time. What's next?"
K wings. 3 of them. Bombs and turrets galore.
This time, however, I won. Mostly due to Kath and Mara chasing them down screaming at them. While it's almost impossible to stop the K Wing from doing what it needs to, they managed alright. Each K wing had a recon specialist on so stopping them getting any focus, let alone the 2 they were due, was quite fun.

Score: 1 Win. 1 Loss.

Game 3 - Vs. Rebels. "Holy fuck, a win! My first tournament win! Let's capitalise!"
Sadly, no. Not against Poe, Horn and an A Wing test pilot.
I'm starting to notice my list doesn't do well against Aces. Swarms, it's not bad. A lot of ships in close proximity to my Firespray and wallop! Those not hit by a Mangler Cannon are stressed thanks to Mara Jade.
The A Wing died, which is always a bonus...

Score: 1 Win. 2 Losses.

Game 4 - Vs. Rebels. "Great. More Aces."

Game 4 turned out to be the best game of the day for me, I got a lot more in terms of damage, but my opponent still beat my ass wholesale.

Score: 1 Win. 3 Losses.

Overall I placed 15th out of 18 (A huge improvement for me!) and won myself 2 alt-art C3PO cards :)

Top 4 was cut between 2 Rebels, 1 Imperial, 1 Scum.

Final went to Imperials and Scum. Ended up as Scum victory.

Watch out for those Kihraxz Fighters. They pack a wallop and at 20 points each, 5 of them are mean!